In the Oscar-buzzed film “The Descendants,” Alexander Payne turns his “Sideways” eye on Kaui Hart Hemmings’ novel about family dysfunction in Hawaii. It’s a heartfelt character study of people trapped on the horns of an uncommon — but not unheard-of — dilemma.
George Clooney stars as Matt King, a lawyer and absentee dad living what “my friends on the mainland” assume is a “permanent vacation.” But he’s quick to tell us they’re not “immune to life,” living in the land of the never-ending luau.
First, his wife’s in a coma, so brain-injured in a boating accident. Then, there’s the thousands of acres of Hawaiian farmland they own that his relatives want him to, as trustee, sell for development.
But about that coma wife: Matt’s been “the backup parent” for years.“ Now he has daughters to communicate with: 10-year-old Scottie (Amara Miller) has to be told her mom is going to die, and rebellious boarding school brat Alex (Shailene Woodley) has to be convinced to behave herself.
But Matt is so out of the loop that he’s missed the obvious. The wife (Patricia Hastie), glimpsed only in a day-of-the-boating-accident flashback, was cheating on him. Alex knew. Others did, too. Now Matt wants to know who the guy is.
Payne stirs all this into a rich brew. “Descendants” includes sad family get-togethers and hopeless moments in which the only thing Matt clings to are thoughts of revenge on the guy his wife was cheating with.
Woodley beautifully gets across the child who has to take on an adult role but is nowhere near up to the task.
Also notable are Beau Bridges, as a laid-back cousin. And the always-wonderful Judy Greer brings a subtle subsurface hurt to the wife of the “other man.”
Matt King is, for the 50-year-old Clooney, his first middle-aged-man role. It’s some of his best work ever.
At times, Payne stumbles. The stalking of the wife’s lover seems like strained invention and Sid is a simple plot device.
But “The Descendants,” like “Sideways ”and “About Schmidt,” lets Payne show us the Other America in these United States.
